The Catholic core of LOTR

[Gnarwhal]

I didn't want to borrow the articles actual title cause it's a major pet peeve of mine when people say "Catholic and/or Christian" as if they're mutually exclusive. All Catholics are Christian.

Anyway, there's a fuller list of 20 things that are both broadly Christian and specifically Catholic. I've been an avid Tolkien nut since I was 14, and I'll admit I'm only now realizing some of these things because of this article.

I just want to list 11-20, the specifically Catholic points here, but if you want to see the whole list here's the article.

1. There are sacraments not symbols. For their journey, Galadriel graciously bestows upon the Fellowship — a representation of the church — seven mystical gifts; no mere symbols these, but glimmering reflections of the Church's seven sacraments — the conveying of spiritual grace through temporal rites. And at her Mirror, Galadriel derides the Reformers' taunt of Eucharistic magic in the Mass when she says: "For this is what your folk would call magic, I believe; though I do not understand clearly what they mean; and they seem to use the same words for the deceits of the enemy." (353)
   
   
2. As grace and creation is experienced through a sacrament, so control and destruction is experienced through an anti-sacrament — the One Ring. The ring that Frodo bears is not symbolic, but rather operates as an anti-sacrament. Dependent on a person's spiritual disposition, a sacrament literally allows grace and life to flow into a person through the physical realm. Likewise in Middle-earth, the characters' spiritual disposition makes them more or less susceptible to the anti-sacrament power of the ring, which if worn, literally brings evil and destruction upon the bearer.
   
   
3. The protagonists pursue absolutes, rejecting any willingness to compromise or relativize. In Middle-earth there is an absoluteness of what is right and wrong. There is no hint of moral relativism that separates the different peoples, races, or creators of the freelands. Aragorn says to Eomer: "Good and ill have not changed since yesteryear; nor are they one thing among Elves and Dwarves and another among men." (428)
   
   
4. The protagonists embrace suffering as a requirement of working out their salvation. It isn't enough to simply believe or have faith To be free of the tyranny of evil each of our protagonists must sacrifice, and work hard through great peril to secure their salvation and the right ordering of their world.
   
   
5. The Shire, described as the ideal community, reflects the social teachings of Catholicism. The Hobbits benefit from a community structure with little formal organization and less conflict. They work only enough to survive and otherwise enjoy each other's company. There is no jealousy, no greed, and rarely does anyone do anything unexpected. There is a wholeness and graciousness about it that seems to come naturally out of selflessness.
   
   
6. Gandalf, the steward of all things good in the world, reflects the papacy. Gandalf is leader of the free and faithful. He is steward of all things good in the world, but he claims rule over no land. As the Popes of history did with kings and emperors of our world, so Gandalf crowns the king and blesses him to rule with justice and peace.
   
   
7. Middle-earth ideology reflects a corporate moral hierarchy and not individualism. There is no democracy or republic in Middle-earth. There are spiritual leaders like Gandalf, and Kings like Theoden and Elessar with lords and vassals. There is no defense of individualism, no claim of choice, and no justification for an individual to follow his conscience.
   
   
8. There is a mystical Lady, like The Blessed Mother, who responds miraculously to pleas for help.The Lady is named Varda (or in Elvish, Elbereth or star-queen) and although she is never seen, she's is described as holy and queenly; and when her name is invoked — "O Elbereth! Gilthoniel! — as Frodo and Sam do on occasion, miracles follow that protect the quest and defeat the present enemy.
   
   
9. The sign of the cross. At the end of the first movie (and the beginning of the second book) Aragorn kneels beside the mortally wounded Boromir — and as he dies, Aragorn makes a rudimentary sign of the cross touching first his forehead and then his lips. It is a salute to Illuvatar, the One who created all.
   
   
10. There is a last sharing of cup and bread, not unlike O.T. manna and its fulfillment in The Eucharist. Before the Fellowship departs from Lorien, Galadriel bids each to participate in a farewell ritual and drink from a common cup. More significant is the mystical Elvish food given to the fellowship — lembas or whey bread. A small amount of this supernatural nourishment will sustain a traveler for many days.
    
    All of this should make viewing or reading The Lord of the Rings a more interesting and insightful experience for both Christians and Catholics. A fuller description of these themes can be found in the following books that were used for this article.

Bibliography

J.R.R. Tolkien's Sanctifying Myth: Understanding Middle-earth. Bradley Birzer, 2003. Wilmington, DE: ISI Books.
Tolkien: A Celebration. Collected writings on a literary legacy. Edited by Joseph Pearce, 1999. San Francisco: Ignatius.
Finding God in The Lord of the Rings. Kurt Bruner and Jim Ware, 2001. Wheaton: Tyndale House.
Tolkien: Man and Myth. A literary life. Joseph Pearce, 1998. San Francisco: Ignatius.

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Number one blew me away though it seems like their count is going by the film and not the book. I think all told in the book Galadriel gave something like 13 gifts to the Fellowship. Still, I hadn't recognized the metaphor that the Fellowship is the Church.

I saw the comparisons in some of the other things already, like Gandalf representing the Pope and lembas representing the Eucharist.

I always felt like Our Lady was represented in multiple figures, at least in the films. There's a scene in the Extended Cut of Fellowship of the Ring, after the Fellowship has formed but before they depart Rivendell. Aragorn is found in a garden quietly kneeling at his mothers memorial, and he reverently brushes his hand along the cheek of the statue representing her, which incidentally looks like Our Lady. To me that was the most direct representation of her, especially given Aragorn, her son's, destiny to be King. It seems like Galadriel is also symbolic of her in some ways, and then also Varda as the article mentions.